To foreign shores for brighter prospects

'Saturated market'

But according to Ji Yang, a supervisor at the New Zealand overseas study department of Vision Overseas Consulting, the market is getting saturated. "More and more people are returning with degrees from abroad and realizing that studying abroad no longer guarantees a well-paid job," Ji said.

"A deeper talent pool means businesses are now paying more attention to the personalities and abilities of prospective employees, regardless of academic status or family background."

He also said that a master's degree was as likely to helps students land a good job as a bachelor's degree used to 10 years ago.

But it is not all that bad. There are those who go to Canada for higher studies and find it easier to find jobs there, especially after the country relaxed rules five years ago to allow international students to work off campus, parttime or immediately upon arrival.

"In fact, while the students study, even their spouses can apply for open work permits and work full-time," said Luo from EIC Education Group. "Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada operates a post-graduate work permit program that allows international graduates to obtain a work permit for up to three years.

The idea is to retain international students. This allows them to work for any Canadian employer in any industry without the requirement of a job offer at the time of applying."

Not surprisingly, official figures show the number of study permits Canada granted to foreign nationals has jumped over 40 percent, from 219,195 in 2015 to 358,190 last year.

According to a report by overseas edition of People's Daily in July, after working at a foreign company in China for three years, Yang Mingsong feared losing his job as his colleagues were more skilled than he was. So he quit his job to study for a master's degree in Germany.

When he returned after completing higher studies in Germany, he was promoted to a management position in his former company. "The overseas study experience definitely helped," he said.